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An Odd Rule of SuccessWe often think of achieving success as moving from one point to another, from one of failure to success, like moving between two points on a map. This is not necessarily so, and the fact can be used to our advantage.

When we want to achieve something we usually go about planning it in the same we plan a road journey. We start from point A and want to get to point B, with places to stop along the way. We mark our progress by how far we have moved along the route in whatever amount of time. Eventually we get to where we want to be.

This analogy of achievement as a journey down a road can be useful. There’s some value in being able to chart our progress day by day or week by week. The length of time it takes us to achieve the goal will vary on how complex and large the goal is, but when we see ourselves moving along the road, even if only by small degrees, it can help to keep us motivated. It’s when we stop seeing progress that we tend to give up.

But this simple road map to success—the straight line method of achievement—has its disadvantages, in that it doesn’t give a true picture of how we achieve things. In fact achieving things can be easier, or take less time than we think, and the road is not straight. In fact, achieving success is not a road at all. It’s something that is essentially non-spatial. We can’t plot from A to B because the distance to our goal is not constant.

Not always a straight line to success

The reason is that when we move toward a goal, we can sometimes take three or four steps at a time, although when we first start to move toward our goal we might have to take five steps in order to move forward just one. Or sometimes we take one step and slide back four steps. :-)

The good thing to know, and something which can really galvanize us to keep trying is that as we persist in trying to achieve our goals, the steps get easier, and that’s when we begin to take four steps for every one. One reason is that as we move toward our goal we get better at what we do. Things get easier. But another reason, and one which isn’t easily measurable, is that we begin to attract things to us that quicken our progress exponentially.

This is especially true when the success isn’t measured in terms of being “the best”—a subjective measurement at best—but simply in terms of achieving something, like starting a successful business.

Looking at success in this way, it might be useful to look at achievement not in terms of a journey, of moving down a road from A to B, but in terms of increasing the power of a magnet. If you’ve ever seen a powerful electromagnet in operation, you’ll know what I mean. Put it in the middle of a bunch of iron filings or metal tacks and increase the power slowly. At first just a few tacks are pulled in, but at some point the current reaches a certain power and suddenly all the tacks fly to the magnet and stick like glue.

Increase your power

Your success can be looked at in the same way. When you begin an undertaking, your power is weak. Maybe you won’t even attract a single tack. But as you continue in your progress and your power increases, more and more tacks will be pulled in, until one day there’ll be such a rush that you’ll wonder how it happened.

Seen from a human perspective, the tacks could be relationships, or reputation. As the number of relationships grows, your success increases—and not by single steps, but leaps and bounds. To me, this is a much better way of looking at success achievement. It shifts the perspective away from success as something you have to work towards to something that you attract to you. It means success is something that is within you and not out there.

The next time you think of something you want to achieve, try to think of it not as a journey, but as an increase in your power. Then think of what you can do to start increasing your attraction. It might mean getting in touch with a certain group of people who have the contacts you need. It might mean starting to learn a new skill that is in demand. Think of success coming to you, and not something you have to chase. It makes the job of achieving success that much easier. ()

Do You Operate in Fear or Faith?The greatest tool the enemy uses against us in life is fear, because fear keeps us from doing many of those things we would like to do in order to make our lives, and the lives of others, more complete and prosperous.

Since we are born with only a few fears like the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises, all other fears are learned. The fear of failure, the fear of rejection, and even a fear of success are all learned fears and are really just lies from the devil.

Naturally, God wants us to live abundant and prosperous lives, but the devil is not going to just step aside and watch while God outrageously prospers us. The devil’s whole purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10), and the best way he is able to do this is by causing us to doubt and fear.

One important thing to understand is the fact that doubt always precedes fear. If the enemy can get us to doubt and give in to it, it will then grow into fear. And even though fear can sneak up on us fast, it doesn't have to paralyse us. It's then that our courage can get us through.

How do we develop true courage? Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Truth, righteousness, preparation to share the gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God is the armor. Verse 16 says, “Above all, take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy.”

It's important to understand the power of faith in God's Word because fear is such a massive thought force competing for control of our minds. Just know, faith is much stronger. We can cancel out fear with faith because there is no force in this world more powerful than faith, and the most amazing things can happen as a result of it.

Faith is a shield. When the devil’s lies come at us in the form of fear, we must know what God’s Word says concerning our circumstances in order to quench that fear.

Unfortunately, too many Christians are ignorant of the power of faith, so they only operate in fear, which is the exact opposite. We cannot operate in a spirit of faith and a spirit of fear at the same time. We will flow in one or the other. We must oppose the spirit of fear and close the door on the devil so we may move forward with God’s plan for our lives.

As Faith is our shield (our defense), God’s Word is our Sword (our offense). That means we must not only believe God’s Word, but we must also speak it.

Our words are containers of power. When all hell is coming against us, we need to hold fast to the confession of our faith and say what the Word says in light of our situation instead of what the circumstances look like or how they make us feel.

Not speaking the positive report of God’s Word is the reason why so many believers fall short of receiving God’s best and continue to live in fear. 2 Corinthians 4:13 says, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken.” By speaking negative words we are operating in fear and are in agreement with the devil. The door then remains open for him to produce the very conditions we are speaking. Instead, speak the promises of God in faith by getting into agreement with Him.

Again, the greatest tool the enemy uses against us in life is fear, but we can quench the firey lies of the enemy by faith and eventually see God’s promises fulfilled in our lives. ()

Fear tells us to avoid and hide from every difficulty in our lives.Fear tells us to do nothing when we should take action.Fear tells us to attack when we should listen.

We want to get rid of all the little fears that hold us back.In fact, we want to get rid of fear altogether.

Do you think that will ever happen?Will fear disappear someday from the vocabulary of human emotions?

I hope not.Let me explain.

Many desires or feelings that are called negative, have a related, positive, aspect.

Fear is one of these two-sided feelings.

Ordinary fear is a great poison that weakens us, and leads us to live tiny lives.It takes away our power to fly, and leaves us crawling on the ground.

That’s not the kind of fear that I want in my life.

Fear and Danger

Where does fear come from, anyway?It starts when I sense danger.It starts when I sense a threat to me, or to something or someone that’s precious to me.

Most of our everyday fears are triggered by psychological threats.If you’re not physically threatened, but you feel afraid, the threat is psychological . You can feel threatened by a person, place, thing, or even an idea.

A Sense of Danger

Anyone ever heard of Spider Man?One of his more interesting abilities is a Spider sense that warns him of danger.

We each have a sense that tells us when things are dangerous.But our sense of danger is often out of touch with reality.

My sense of danger is colored and twisted by the stories that I tell myself about my past experiences.

The mind takes one real danger, one bad experience, and uses it as evidence that something is dangerous forever.

We’re masters at exaggerating danger.

And, we’re quick to tell ourselves what we can’t do.How often do we whisper to ourselves that an action is just too hard, or even impossible?

Why am I so afraid to face a challenge, and do something unfamiliar and difficult?In a somewhat misguided way, I’m trying to protect myself.

If I don’t succeed, or even if it takes me a few times to succeed, I might damage some image, some story that I tell about how perfect I am, and that’s dangerous.

The GuardianStill, having a sense of danger, and acting on it, is a vital skill.We need a sense of danger, a sense that listens for threats to what is truly precious.

Follow me for a moment.I don’t want a sense of danger that results in debilitating fear, or anger, or hatred.I don’t want my beliefs about what’s precious to lead me to deny anyone’s humanity.

I can love others that I disagree with.But sometimes, in accepting others, my mind takes that acceptance and exaggerates it.I slip into a mindset that says that it doesn’t really matter what I believe.I start to become indifferent to things that used to matter to me.

And if I don’t care, if something isn’t important to me, will I stand up and take action when it’s unpopular?

We may deny it, but many of our actions are motivated by a blind desire to be accepted. And where does my desire to accept other people come from? Does it arise from a deep-felt recognition of each person’s humanity or do I accept others so they will accept me?

Of course I want to get along with others. I want others to like me.But if that’s the basis for my principles, if that’s the basis for deciding what’s important, then I’m in big trouble.

And the world will suffer as a result.I don’t believe that much good comes from blindly following any belief in a half-hearted way.

I want to be passionate about my beliefs, so I have the energy and courage to do the right thing, even when it’s hard.

I want to protect what’s precious in this world.I want to be a guardian of this wonderful garden that we live in,

I don’t want to be judge and jury of others.I don’t want to condemn anyone.

But I will stand up, gently and strongly, for what is precious.

TransformationLet’s get rid of the ordinary sort of fear, and cultivate its other side: a sense of danger.Let’s develop a sense of danger that comes together with the feeling of being a calm, powerful, loving guardian of the world’s treasures.

Exercise: Fear into ActionThe next time you feel afraid of some danger:

1. Ask yourself if there really is a danger to something precious. 2. If so, switch gears inside and let that feeling of fear change into a feeling of danger without fear, and without anger - a powerful awareness of what’s important. 3. Then connect that awareness to the feeling of being a calm, energetic guardian, and find a way to take action. ()

Personal Development GrowthPersonal development used to be a course taught at business and vocational schools around the United States.

It was long since held that self-improvement was an essential aspect of succeeding in a more and more competitive marketplace that left little room for those who would not be able to pull their own weight - usually because of self image problems.

Personal growth was considered to be the antidote to the possibility of failure very often experienced by job changers, vocation changers, and those who might embark on a new career at a more advanced age than most of their competitors in the marketplace.

Personal development was said to be effective in combining an individual's innate wish for success with a change in the person's mode of viewing her- or himself and also the way the person is portraying her- or himself to others.

NLP - neuro-linguistic programming is one of the favored tools of the personal development movement. Since it offers a wide variety of tools and techniques, this application itself promises success simply because of its superior adaptability to the needs of the person seeking personal development.

For example, for those will simply performance anxietyproblems, a large number of exercises will make an accomplished introvert out of a phobic introvert who is sent into stammering or excessive sweating bits at the prospect of speaking in front of a crowd. For the person suffering from extreme anxiety the idea of meditation - well within the framework of NLP - will quite often yield amazing results.

While traditionalists might scoff at the idea of personal development simply because it is such a subjective exercise, it is noteworthy that many people sear by it and attribute their business success to lessons learned and exercises attempted during a personal development seminar.

Perhaps the most important aspect to remember when discussing personal development is the fact that it seeks to capitalize on a person's good intentions.

These intentions may be the wish to succeed in business, theinnate need to be useful, or maybe just the wish to further the role of leadership a person has taken within a corporation or business. The goal is to draw out the good intentions and turn them into marketable objectives which the client will be able to realize and develop further, so as to ensure that her or his confidence will grow enough to pursue the next level of professional development.

For those who are gifted with a go-get-it attitude, this need may be hard to understand, but suffice it to say that in a world where corporate success is hard won, and abilities have to be proven time and again, those who may suffer from a lack of self esteem have often found themselves relegated to the sidelines.

If this is you, it is also important to understand that you do not have to be on the sidelines, but that you have everything it takes to make it up the ladder of success! ()

The 5 Step Personal Development PlanPersonal development has become increasingly popular in today's busy world for everything from career improvement and weight loss to public speaking. While the methods and tools used to achieve the desired personal development outcome may vary from high priced seminars to moderately priced books, there are a number of simple steps that can be used to get you started on the right path to reach your own personal development goal, such as:

1) Identify the Cause

A good starting point with personal development is to look at how you got to where you are right now. For example, if your area of personal development relates to weight loss then look at what lifestyle factors contributed to your weight problem to start with. Write down everything you can think of that contributed to the problem and then analyze how you can modify each factor to get the result you desire.

2) Goal Setting

It is essential to have a clear goal in mind to achieve your own particular personal development requirements. Ask yourself exactly what it is that you wish to achieve and the more refined and clear your goal the more chance you will have of successfully attaining it.

3) Make a Plan

Once you have decided on your goal then formulate a plan that details the steps you will take to reach your goal. Use the details you uncovered when identifying the cause of the problem and expand on these to incorporate as much detail as possible on how you can achieve your personal development goal.

4) Focus and Commitment

Once you know your goal and have designed your plan you then need to focus on your goal and commit to the plan you have designed. Set aside a certain amount of time each day to work on your plan and do not allow general daily chores to distract you from what you need to do. Once you have become accustomed to working on your plan each day it will become a habit and therefore easier over time to stick too.

5) Look for Inspiration

It will be of great benefit to look for inspiration from others that have overcome the same personal development challenge as your own. This can be in the form of books, seminars, courses or even a person from your local community that you may be able to contact to get some tips or advice.

Personal development is about identifying areas of your life that you wish to change for the better and having an attitude of continual self-improvement. No matter which area of your life you intend to improve by following the steps outlined above and committing to the plan you can be assured of achieving your goals and in doing so gain more confidence to not only achieve other personal development goals but do it quicker and easier each time. ()

Gaining New SkillsWhen we consider learning a new skill, we often concentrate on how difficult it will be to get good, never mind become a master. We need a different set of thinking skills to help us move forward.

"I could never do that."

How often do we hear that phrase, either from people we know or from ourselves, spoken by a tiny—though often loud and vociferous—inner voice? I’m willing to bet that we hear it every day, and more from ourselves than we care to admit. That inner voice telling us that something is outside the range of our ability is heard every minute in some cases. In fact it’s heard so often that we stop hearing it, even though the effects can be disastrous for our self-confidence and our ability to gain it. We get so used to this voice telling us that we are useless or have no ability that it becomes like background noise. We are so used to it that we don’t recognize it’s there until it gives us a headache. And a permanent headache at that…

The trouble is we can’t shut it off. Or can’t seem to…

Where does this problem come from, this constantly underestimating our abilities to do things? One of the problems is that we forget what it is like to be a child. Even when we have children of our own, and we watch them going through their own learning experiences—sometimes struggling to learn, but more often learning effortlessly—we somehow can’t, or don’t, see the great truth that this can teach us.

Small beginnings

Take reading, for instance. When a child learns to read, he begins by learning his ABC, or whatever script is used by his language. He learns the characters and that’s it. A thought such as: “It’s pointless learning these because I’ll never get good enough to read all those big, thick books I see on the library shelves.” And neither would his parents dream of putting a thick book in his hands and tell him that he should get on with learning to read and leave him to get on with it.

A child learns the letters, and then some simple words, and then he progresses to reading more complicated texts. And if you’ve ever watched a child go through the stages of reading comprehension, you’ll have very likely witnessed a pretty amazing thing. It isn’t that children can learn to read, that they can learn abstract symbols and recognize that they can communicate concepts and ideas of objects (though that is pretty amazing). The thing that is amazing is the increase in the rate of learning once the child reaches a certain point. Once he gets in his stride, there’s no stopping him.

What does this teach us? It teaches us that the early parts of any learning experience are always the most difficult, and that once we get over the initial hurdles the learning experience generally becomes easier. Once we have the basics in place, we can begin to make connections with all sorts of other information—and not always information within the same subject—and our growth can become exponential.

This is just common sense, and yet adults forget this, and usually don’t remember it, even when they see children manifesting this ability to tackle a learning experience without problem. This is the key to learning anything, and the child knows it instinctively, or to be more accurate there are many things that the child does not “know” or care about, and therefore just isn’t hampered by them.

Building blocks

When a child begins to play with building blocks, he doesn’t think of the house he will eventually be able to build. He concentrates on balancing on block on top of another, or sticking two Lego bricks together. Only when he has mastered these basics does he move on. Until that time, he doesn’t care about the great models he will build, the great books he will read. He cares only about learning what he can learn at that moment, and enjoying it at that. Paradoxically, the less the child cares about getting better, the better he gets.

The reason children can do this is because of their lack of thought—and more importantly their lack of worry. Here are three things to think about when you need to learn something new.

Children don’t think in terms of getting better

For a child, simply doing in that moment is all there is. You can do the same. Now is all there is, and when you use the “now” effectively, you’ll find that the “tomorrow”, the future, is much more likely to be as the “now” guided it to be.

Children don’t think in terms of aims

Children don’t think in terms of learning in order to do something bigger or more difficult.For a child, the long journey ahead simply doesn’t exist. Adults often concentrate on thinking about the journey and how hard it is to reach the destination, instead of concentrating on now. Of course, we need to think of the destination and we need to think of improving ourselves. But to confuse the destination with the steps we take to reach it is a mistake.

Children aren’t bothered by learning the basics

A child can sometimes concentrate for hours on doing a simple thing, and by doing that will master the basics that will lead to the rapid learning later on. Adults get bored if they have to do the same thing for more than five minutes. Learn to not expect rapid progress at the beginning of an undertaking. Learn the basics and the learning will be mch easier later on.

So if you want to learn something—especially if you find yourself looking at the end result and feeling disheartened at the thought of ever being good enough—take some advice from a child. Start now. Enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about running. Learn to walk first. One day you’ll be running so fast you won’t even remember not being able to walk.

Most kids—at least those under the age of 15—have never read Friedrich Nietzsche, but they know instinctively what he meant when he said: “He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”

They know instinctively that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step… and they don’t even care how long the journey is.

What journey will you start today? Which “ABC” of which subject or skill will you begin today?

The foundations of Success"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." David Brinkley

It’s a common conception that successful people have had it easy. Successful people, or so we often think, have had opportunity handed to them on a plate, and all they had to do was pick it up and success was theirs. Then when we look around at our own lives and find that the same opportunities are lacking, we begin to believe that success is impossible, or so difficult that it would take years of work to achieve.

It’s only when we look at the facts of the lives of many successful people that we see the opposite is true. Many successful people did not have easy lives, or certainly no easier than many other people. And many times we find that successful people had far from easy lives.

So what made the difference?

The difference lies in the mindset of successful people. Instead of concentrating on what they don’t have, successful people will concentrate on what they do have—and use that to build something worthwhile. Taking this even further, we see that successful people often took the bad things that happened to them and used them as a basis to achieve something great. They took the bricks that were thrown at them and used them to build something.

Life is full of chance, and true success means enjoying this fact—and making the most of the opportunities that life throws at you. It means taking those bricks that have been thrown at you and building something worthwhile with them. After all, a brick is a brick is a brick… and you can either leave those bricks in a pile to gather dust or you can dust off your trowel, mix some cement and get building.

Today, analyze your situation and see what bricks lie at your feet. Then see what you could build with them. You might well have the materials for success right there. (Inspiration Insights)

Movement and The MindThe scientists seem to be getting an idea of something that any sportsman or practitioner of martial arts has always known: that exercise stimulates the brain. In short, exercise makes you smarter, brighter, faster…

Scientists have always had an idea that this is so, but only now are they able to offer some sorts of proof, according to an article in Newsweek. Using the latest brain-scanning tools and the latest research in biochemistry, scientists have found that exercise affects the brain and mental development much more than previously realized.

The latest research shows that muscles, when exercised, release chemicals including a protein called IGF-1 that travels through the bloodstream and into the brain. Once in the brain the protein causes other chemicals to be produced, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This chemical seems to lead to increased mental awareness. In other words, it helps you think better.

Soon we may have proof that all those fitness instructors were right after all… and that getting more exercise, and giving more exercise to our children, has more benefits than just losing weight. (Inspiration Insights)

Refresh Your MemoryEver had the experience of remembering something but being unable to remember the exact sequence of events that comprised the memory? It’s something that a lot of us have experienced at one time or another. We remember the holiday, for instance, but sometimes find ourselves unable to remember exactly the chronology of the events. In short, we can remember the whole event but not which events came first, second and third within it.

Now, researchers at the University of Lübeck may have hit upon an answer.

It’s a widely held view that it’s during sleep that long-term memories are formed. During sleep, the brain replays the experiences of the previous day in order to save them to memory. But the new research seems to show that sleep not only helps us to make memories, but also helps the brain to remember in which order a particular series of events took place.

If this is true, it might show getting a good night’s sleep does more than refresh the body and the mind on a shallow level. It might help the brain not only in remembering information, but also how to structure it.

Being able to structure information is extremely helpful, or even essential, for people who work on complicated projects or are involved in project management. Being able to start work in the morning with the information learned during the previous day’s work structured in the mind in a way which enables us to make sense of it and use it effectively can be a huge boost to our ability to get things done. Some of the time we struggle to remember exactly how one piece of information works with another. If the findings of the research are true, it’s been getting a good night’s sleep could be one of the best things we can do to get our brains working at an optimum level. This would make projects run much more smoothly and save time.

The research may also explain something else. I once worked with someone who slept hardly at all, and spent most of their waking hours in the office. That person could remember facts, but could never seem to get anything into a logical order. She had turned disorganization into an art form. If I’d known what the cure was, perhaps the company could have paid for some kind of sleep therapy… (Inspiration Insights)

Want Success? Get Some Sleep!Researchers in Germany have done a study which has significant implications to student’s performance in school and to adult’s success at work. The study shows that individuals taking a simple math test were three times more likely than their sleep-deprived counterparts to figure out a hidden rule for converting certain numbers into the right answer if they had eight hours of sleep.

The study also shows that there is a strong correlation between adequate sleep and a person’s ability to be creative and to solve problems. Other biochemical studies of the brain have suggested that memories are restructured before they are stored. Creativity seems to also be enhanced in this process. This restructuring may be occurring to make problems easier to solve.

According to researcher Jan Born of the University of Lubeck, during sleep the brain actively processes information learned during the day. Here is what Borg has to say about the benefits of sleep for long-term memory:

“Brain cells seem to replay the memory during slow-wave sleep, often called deep sleep in stages of non-rapid eye movement. The replay makes the memory stronger. People who don’t get enough sleep have more trouble pulling up the memory when they need the information. I am absolutely convinced that sleep is necessary for long-term memory.”

Many college students have stayed up all night trying to study for an important exam. It turns out that this is one of the worst things that they can do. If you have an important activity the next day, be it an exam, a performance, a job interview, a sports event, or anything else that requires you to perform, the most important thing that you need to do in order to be well prepared is to get a good night of sleep the night before.

According to Phyllis Zee, a sleep researcher at the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, most Americans get less than the minimum seven hours of sleep per night. “People who don’t get enough sleep, which could include millions of Americans, may be setting themselves up for attention lapses”, she says.

Findings presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Boston show that sleep may help boost the brain’s ability to remember recently learned information. Anyone who works in demanding jobs that require a strong reliance on memory and alertness should pay close attention to this research. In some professions, such as airline pilots, the amount of rest between work shifts is regulated. If you don’t get enough sleep you are more likely to make mistakes because you will have difficulty concentrating and recalling critical information when required.

Steve Pavlina, a well know personal development blogger has done an experiment with polyphasic sleep which is a pattern of sleeping for about 20 minutes every four hours around the clock. Under this pattern a person only sleeps about 2 hours a day, which is much less than the 7-8 hours of sleep recommended by the experts. Here is what Steve had to say about the experiment:

“Adapting to polyphasic sleep took many days, and I felt like a zombie the first week. At one point I just sat on the couch staring at a wall for 90 minutes, unable to form any thoughts. But eventually I was able to adapt, and it was one of the most unusual experiences of my life… By adapting to polyphasic sleep, you may gain some waking hours each day, but you sacrifice a lot of schedule flexibility… Eventually I abandoned the pattern and returned to monophasic sleep, mainly due to social reasons”

It is not clear from what Steve has reported whether there is any benefit from polyphasic sleep. As he said, you may gain some hours each day, but you lose your schedule flexibility. To me it is a dangerous experiment that could have an adverse effect on you health, so I would not recommend it.

There is plenty of evidence that getting enough sleep is essential for success in any activity, from academics to sports, and beyond. If you are serious about being successful, don’t sacrifice your sleep just to gain a few extra hours each day. Don’t think of sleep as a waste of time. Think of it as an essential ingredient for your body’s health and for your success. (WW-Success)